Metal News for June 9, 2005

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20 news articles posted on this day.

GOD FORBID guitarist Doc Coyle has posted the following message on the band's official website:

"Hello friends,G4B is almost done with the general tracking of IV:Constitution of Treason. We're finishing up the bass tracks, extra guitar stuff, and little bit of the ear candy that goes onto a record to give it some added spice in the next week, and than mixdown will take place with Eric Rachel throughout the majority of June. Not to blow smoke, but it sounds incredible thus far, and several people of the few that have heard it demand that it's our best work to date. I'm not going to argue with them, but I won't make any severe judgements until it's completely done. I can say that Byron has made some huge leaps in his vocal range and tone. Producer, Jason Suecoff, showed his quality in that regard. I think people will be suprised when they hear the growth in the vocals overall, where as we used more of triple vocal approach. Musically, it's a more refined and complex version of the traditional GOD FORBID sound, but offers several new twists and turns to the fold. I can't wait until it's all done so everyone out there can hear it. Since the album doesn't come out until September 20th, we don't expect to tour until late August or early September. We have booked several summer shows in the meantime to stay busy, and showcase some of the new material. Hope to see everyone on the road. Peace."

Video footage of a FEAR FACTORY rehearsal, taken during the recording sessions for the group's new album, "Transgression", has been posted online at this location.

FEAR FACTORY's "Transgression" is scheduled for release on August 23 via Trillion Records. Trillion is the new imprint from Liquid 8 Records and Entertainment founder and CEO, Mike Cattain, who has created Trillion as a home for FEAR FACTORY and new bands seeking a creative haven grounded in growth.

FEAR FACTORY entered Track Record Studios in North Hollywood, California on May 5 with producer Toby Wright (ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, SOULFLY) to begin recording the follow-up to last year's "Archetype". In addition to Toby Wright, there will be a list of guest musicians collaborating on "Transgression", including bass player Billy Gould of FAITH NO MORE fame. Billy will contribute to two songs: "Echo of My Scream" and "Super Nova". Other working titles for "Transgression" include "New Promise" (co-written with Mark Morton of LAMB OF GOD), "Empire", "540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit" and the projected title track.

MUDVAYNE's "Lost and Found" has been certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.

The follow-up to 2002's gold-certified "The End of All Things to Come", "Lost and Found" was recorded at The Plant studio in Sausalito, California with producer Dave Fortman (former UGLY KID JOE guitarist), who has previously worked with SUPERJOINT RITUAL and EVANESCENCE, among others.

"Lost and Found" sold 151,559 copies in the United States in its first week of release in mid-April to land at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart.

MUDVAYNE were recently confirmed as the "mystery band" on the main stage of Ozzfest. The tour kicks off on July 15 in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

After just one CD, "Escape from Cape Coma", metal band TWISTED METHOD is no more.

Last week, Derrick "Tripp" Tribbett, the lead vocalist for the Cape Coral-based band that formed after members at Mariner High School, announced on its Web site that two members were leaving for other pursuits.

"I'm floored," said Pennachio, adding that the split was not about creative differences. "They were building on something. They were ready to start work on a new record and they have a DVD with two new songs coming out later this summer." The DVD will be available through twistedmethod.com.

About a month ago, Howard (not to be confused with THE UNKNOWN's Andy Howard, the only other Lee band to be signed by a major label) announced that he couldn't be involved in the recording sessions in Chicago.

"He has twins and he needed to be with his family," Pennachio said.Tribbett said being on the road and playing in sweaty nightclubs is not the way to raise children.

"The road beats you up, man," he said.

Shortly after the Chicago sessions, Goins met with Pennachio and announced that he too was leaving.

"He left the band for God," said an incredulous Pennachio. "I thought he was joking at first. I mean, I know he always had a Christian faith, but I guess now he's taking it to a more serious level."

Tribbett said TWISTED METHOD's in-your-face attitude and apparent hostility was mostly an act.

"We weren't the most polite band ... and I think he realized he just didn't want to deal with the road’s temptations anymore," Tribbett said.

New York hardcore legends MADBALL have finalized the track listing for their upcoming album, "Legacy", due on August 2 via Ferret Records. The band entered the studio last month with producer Zeuss (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, THROWDOWN) to begin recording the CD, which vocalist Freddy Cricien has described as "our best material. It's still heavy, it's still in your face and talks about real life, but it also has groove and really heavy production."

A video for "Heavenhell" was shot with director Dale "Rage" Resteghini (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, MUDVAYNE, UNEARTH, AGNOSTIC FRONT, MISERY SIGNALS) on June 4 at Kenny's Castaways in New York City. It is expected to begin airing during the coming weeks.

Meshuggah's latest album, "Catch 33," has sold 6,954 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 170 on next week's The Billboard 200 chart. In their homeland of Sweden, the extreme metallers went straight to #12.

Fresh off a successful American tour alongside King Diamond, Nile and The Black Dahlia Murder, the Polish phenomenon known as Behemoth recently returned to Europe, where they'll play several major summer festivals in the coming weeks. They've already played one such gig: Poland's Mystic Festival, also featuring Iron Maiden, Nightwish and Kreator, which is the biggest annual metal event in their home country. According to front man Nergal, the festival turned out great despite some technical problems:

It was a real challenge. Both ideologically and stylistically, we were so different from all the other bands playing that day, though still we managed to show the band from a good side, I believe. Besides that, we had to cut our set from nine to seven songs in order to have a proper line check. We also faced lots of minor technical difficulties on stage, and moreover, the sun that day was merciless. I could see that the crowd was really tired of the heat, yet still they did great and gave us positive feedback. Mystic has a historical meaning for us (it's the biggest one we've played), so I want to thank all the fans that turned out that day. We will meet again soon. We’d also like to express our deepest appreciation and love to Michal Wardzala and Barbara Mikula from Mystic Prod. for giving us great opportunity to open for the best metal band ever! Keep up the great work, my friends!

Behemoth also just performed at Denmark's Feemetal Festival, and will play Sweden Rock - also featuring Motley Crue, Megadeth, Dio and many others - this weekend. The group's remaining European festivals are as follows:

Before Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Hot Topic made metalcore a semi-mainstream commodity, Huntington Beach, California, quintet Avenged Sevenfold were combining caustic riffs and hardcore howls with the type of tuneful vocal passages that would

"I never got to meet Dimebag, but he and Slash are my two greatest guitar heroes." — Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadowsbecome an identifying characteristic of the genre.

Avenged's 2001 debut, "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet," was a bracing, freewheeling introduction that paved the way for 2003's more focused and aggressive "Waking the Fallen." The album attracted extreme-metal and punk kids in equal measure and led to a major-label deal. As they entered the studio to work on their third LP, "City of Evil," Avenged Sevenfold seemed destined to ascend to the top of the metalcore heap. But now that's not going to happen.

"City of Evil" isn't metalcore, sharing little with extreme metal and nothing with hardcore. Instead, the band has written a jaw-droppingly schizophrenic, meandering and undeniably tuneful album that sounds like a collision of Metallica, Faith No More, CKY, Guns N' Roses and Queen.

"When we started working on this record, we said, 'You know what? None of our favorite bands are super extreme, they just write really good melodic songs that are still heavy,' " frontman M. Shadows said. "So we decided we didn't want to scream anymore. Instead, we wanted to make a rock record for the new ages — something with a lot of singing, textures and vocal harmonies, and we couldn't do any of that with all the screaming."

A Seattle show has been added to Megadeth's "Gigantour" for September 10 at the White River Amphitheatre.

Gigantour features Megadeth, Dream Theater, Fear Factory, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Nevermore on the main stage, and Dry Kill Logic, Symphony X and Bobaflex on the Second Stage. Upcoming tour dates:

Eagle Rock Entertainment and Twisted Sister, the legendary multi-platinum metal band, are teaming up to bring the ultimate combination of DVD and CD technology to metal fans everywhere. On June 28, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Twisted Sister's Live at Wacken The Reunion," on DVDplus. The revolutionary DVDplus format offers music fans a full-length DVD video program and a full-length audio CD on opposite sides of the same disc.

Unlike the DualDisc format, which is marketed as an enhanced audio CD, DVDplus uses the full capacity of the disc to give consumers a double dose of entertainment. The unique mastering techniques of DVDplus can include up to two hours of video on the DVD side, plus a full-length CD program. Packaged in a jewel box, the disc has magenta printing on one side and a clear coat scratch-resistant finish on the other, making it easier to identify its content than the DualDisc. It is also backwards compatible with all CD and DVD players. List price for "Live at Wacken The Reunion" will be $19.98.

"We've been in the DVD business for a long time, and believe that DVDplus truly offers the consumer the best of both worlds: a full-length DVD video program and a full-length CD audio program," said Mike Carden, Eagle Rock Entertainment Executive Vice President and President of North American Operations. "Given our long relationship with Twisted Sister on our Spitfire label, this is the perfect combination of their talent and our desire to expand into promising new formats."

Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider and manager Phil Carson became early proponents of DVDplus technology, which was developed by acclaimed record producer and engineer Dieter Dierks. Dierks is best known for his work with Twisted Sister and Scorpions, and is also CEO of DVDplus International, headquartered in Germany.

"I first heard about DVDplus when Dieter Dierks, a German record producer pal of mine, came to New York and showed me this astonishing technology," says Snider. "I saw a massive potential that is particularly important to record companies. DVDplus is a way for them to give the consumer a package that includes everything they could ever want from their favorite artist."

"DVDplus is exactly what the industry needs," says Carson, who is also President of the North American Division of DVDplus. "It gives the consumer extra value and serves as a deterrent to downloading." More...

It's bad news for Slipknot fans hoping that the band would tour U.S. clubs in late summer. The Las Vegas House of Blues has confirmed that Slipknot will be playing there on August 21, leading to some speculation over whether that gig would be part of a tour. But a spokesperson for the band says it's simply a one-off performance. At this point, the only other U.S. show on Slipknot's itinerary is a single Ozzfest appearance on August 20 in San Bernardino.

In related news, Slipknot have once again delayed the release of their upcoming, as yet untitled DVD to October 11th via Roadrunner.

Chimaira will be filming a video for their track "Nothing Remains" later this month, it is expected to be completed and ready for viewing in mid to late July. The bands self-titled new album will hit stores on August 09th through Roadrunner.

Boston, MA-based metallers Ravage have completed the mixing of their debut full-length album, "Spectral Rider", and the mastering process will commence shortly.

Ravage singer Alec "Al Ravage" Firicano described the album as a mixture of "Painkiller"-era Judas Priest, "Number of the Beast"-era Iron Maiden, '80s DIO and '80s Metallica. "It's an eclectic yet traditional mix," he said.

"Spectral Rider" track listing:

01. Turn the Screw02. Spectral Rider03. The Wicked Way04. The Masque of Black Death05. Incantation of the Necromancer06. Wake the Dead07. Ravage Part 1: Damage08. Wyvern09. The Wasteland10. Bring Down the Hellhammer11. The King Forgotten12. Curse of Heaven (Bonus Track)

The album will be released in late August 2005. A label announcement, sound clips, cover art, and specific release dates are forthcoming.

Arch Enemy will have a new guitarist in their line-up when they hit the road. He's Gus G., of Firewind fame. He temporarily replaces Christopher Amott, who's taking time out for his studies. The latter, though, is on the band's new album 'Doomsday Machine', which is released at the end of July.